March 21, 2008
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COLUMBIA – En route to a career-high 31 points, South Carolina freshman Jordan Jones broke the WNIT record and tied the school record with nine 3-pointers as the Gamecocks overpowered North Carolina A&T 102-74 in the first round of the WNIT. After a slow start, the Gamecocks rolled off a 10-2 run to go up by three with 12:34 left on the clock. The Aggies (25-8) put together a rally of their own with a 16-6 surge that narrowed the margin to three with just two minutes left in the half. After pushing the halftime lead up to 10 points, South Carolina took command of the game with a 23-2 start in the first six minutes of the second period. With the win, the Gamecocks (16-15) will travel to North Carolina State for a second-round game on Mon., Mar. 24, at 7 p.m.
N.C. A&T jumped out to an eight-point lead right out of the gate, forcing the Gamecocks into three turnovers in their first five possessions. Brionna Dickerson, who scored 25 points in the game, stopped the bleeding with the Gamecocks’ first 3-pointer of the night to cut the deficit to 14-9. After a Samone Kennedy steal, Demetress Adams hit a shot jumper from the right block off a feed from Ilona Burgrova at the high post. Ebony Jones swiped a steal on the Aggies’ next possession and kicked the ball ahead to the speedy Kennedy, whose layup at the 14:17 mark had the Aggies’ lead quickly down to one. Lonise Coulter hit a layup for N.C. A&T, but it was only a temporary stemming of the tide. Adams hit back-to-back buckets to give South Carolina its first lead of the night, and a layup from Kennedy made it a 19-16 Gamecock advantage with 12:34 left in the half.
As the Aggies continued to miss shots, the Gamecock lead quickly grew to double digits, reaching 13 points on Adams’ steal and driving layup with 7:19 to go in the period. But N.C. A&T was not done. A Gamecock turnover led to a Britta Taylor-James jumper, which kicked off the 16-6 comeback for the Aggies. Amber Bland hit 1-of-2 free throws, and Lamona Smalley drove for a layup to pull A&T within eight at 35-27. A 3-pointer from Jordan Jones, who had started the night 0-3 from behind the arc, pushed the margin back to 11, but the Aggies forced four straight turnovers and netted the next seven points to get within 38-32 at the 2:53 mark. Jones buried another 3-pointer from the right wing, but Bland hit a long jumper from the top of the key and Tyronnica Alford’s layup at 2:15 had the Aggies within three at 41-38.
With Jones now firing with the hot hand, the Gamecocks kicked the offense back into gear. A 3-pointer from the right sideline got the lead back to six, and Kennedy pushed it to eight with a runner in the lane. Jones capped the Gamecocks’ highest-scoring half of the season with a mid-range jumper to send South Carolina into the locker room up 48-38.
South Carolina opened the second half on a tear, particularly as Jones started feeling it from outside the arc. A 10-point lead grew to 31 in the first six minutes of the half. The surge included three 3-pointers from Jones and six points from Dickerson. The Gamecocks went on to score 54 points in the half and cruise to a 28-point victory.
Jones’ 31 points are the most by a Gamecock freshman since Schonna Banner netted 37 against Cincinnati on Jan. 9, 1987. Her nine 3-pointers tied Shannon Johnson’s school-record outing against Arizona State on Dec. 20, 1995, and topped the WNIT record of eight set by Jenny Lingor of Missouri State against Iowa in 2005.
In addition to Dickerson’s 25, on 11-of-13 shooting, Adams just missed a double-double with 18 points and game-high nine rebounds. Senior Lakesha Tolliver kicked in 14, hitting 6-of-7 from the field.
